1). Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a repeat payment computer system, including a merchant server and mobile billing operator server that are programmed for user acquisition through carrier billing and subsequent conversion to credit card billing.
2). Discussion of Related Art
Merchants often use merchant servers for purposes of selling goods, services and virtual goods such as game credits, movies, music, etc. online. Some products that are sold online may require repeat payments. A repeat payment may for example be for a repeated purchase at the user's selection or according to a schedule set by the user. A repeat payment may also be for a subscription such as a monthly subscription to virtual goods such as movies or music.
The user may use a browser on a user mobile phone to transmit a registration page request to the merchant server and the merchant server will then return a registration page to the user mobile phone and the user registration page is then displayed within the browser. The registration page usually includes, or is immediately followed, by a page requiring the user to enter credit card information. The credit card information typically includes the first name, last name, card number, security code and billing zip code of a credit card held by the user. The user then has to find a credit card and enter the information into the registration page.
This is a cumbersome process for many users, resulting in users that cancel the registration process before it is completed. A potential customer is then lost to the merchant. By requiring credit card information in a registration process, the registration process may fail for a number of reasons such as the use of an expired credit card, incorrect information entered by the user, etc.